Congo to launch national vaccination campaign against measles

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – Congolese health authorities will launch a national Vaccination Programme (PEV) under which children aged five and under will be vaccinated against measles.

The Head of the PEV, Dr. Herman Boris Didi Ngossaki, said the programme will run across the country from 17 to 21 December.

He said the programme followed the resurgence of the disease that has affected more than 900 persons this year.

He said the disease, which first hit Pointe-Noire in the south of the country in 2010/2011, has spread to all the other regions of Congo.

“Today, this national vaccination campaign is the only response to this scourge," Dr. Ngossaki added.

According to him, many kids who are not vaccinated are easily exposed to this killer-disease.

Regarding poliomyelitis, Dr. Ngossaki said apart from La Cuvette West, in northern Congo, where 95 per cent of kids have been vaccinated this year, all the other regions run the risk of developing the wild virus.
-0- PANA NA/VAO 10Dec2013